Daily GK Update 19 december 2014 - Current Affairs

i. NASA’s planet-hunting Kepler spacecraft, which is carrying out a new
mission has made its first exoplanet discovery — a ‘super-Earth’ located
180 light-years from Earth.

ii. This led to the discovery of a planet, HIP 116454b, which is 2.5
times the diameter of Earth and follows a close, nine-day orbit around a
star that is smaller and cooler than our Sun, making the planet too hot
for life as we know it.

iii. The discovery was confirmed with measurements taken by the
HARPS-North spectrograph of the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo in the
Canary Islands, which captured the wobble of the star caused by the
planet’s gravitational tug as it orbits.

2. Lakhvi booked again; to remain in jail

i. Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi will remain in jail for at least three more
months with Pakistani authorities on Friday slapping stringent
provisions under public security against the key accused in the 2008
Mumbai attack, a day after a court gave him bail sparking outrage in
India.

ii. Lakhvi (54) was detained for three months under Maintenance of Public Order (MPO).

iii. Lakhvi was granted bail by Islamabad Anti-Terrorism Court on Thursday due to lack of evidence against him.

3. 8.75% interest on PF for 2014-15

i. Over five crore provident fund subscribers governed by the EPFO will
get 8.75 per cent interest on their deposits for the current fiscal.

ii. The Finance Ministry has ratified the rate for 2014-15, after a
decision was taken to retain the interest payout at this level by the
Central Board of Trustees of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation.

iii. Following the ratification by the Finance Ministry, the decision
would now be notified by the Labour Ministry as also by the Income Tax
Department.

4. Carbon-dioxide emissions at all-time high in 2013.

i. Global carbon-dioxide emissions from burning of fossil fuels and
production of cement reached a high of 35.3 billion tonnes in 2013,
mainly due to the continuing steady increase in energy use in emerging
economies such as India.

ii.
Brazil (6.2 per cent), India (4.4 per cent), China (4.2 per cent) and
Indonesia (2.3 per cent) reported a sharp rise in emissions of the
greenhouse gas that year.

iii. The global emissions, however, increased at a notably slower rate
of 2 per cent than the average yearly 3.8 per cent since 2003.

iv. China, the United States and the European Union remain the top three
emitters of carbon dioxide, accounting for 29 per cent, 15 per cent and
11 per cent, respectively, of the world’s total.

5. It's Atletico De Kolkata Vs Kerala F.C. in ISL Finals

i. Atletico De Kolkata and Kerala F.C. will Lock horns in the ISL finale on 20th December 2014.

ii. Atletico defeated Goa F.C. in the penalty shoot outs after the goalless draws over two legs.